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HISTORY OF THE OHIO INSTITUTION 



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HISTORY OF THK OHIO INSTITUTION 



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EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB, 

LOCATED ATj [COLUMBUS. 



The first movement made in the State of Ohio to estab- 
lish an Institution of its own, for the education of the Deaf 
and Dumb, was at Cincinnati in the year 1821. To what 
extent deaf mutes in the State had availed themselves of 
the ^educational advantages offered from 1817, by Eastern in- 
stitutions, is not definitely known. Freeman Burt, from 
Cincinnati, had entered the Hartford school in the spring 
of 1818, and had remained there three years and a half at 
his own expense. Josiah Price, of Stark County, applied 
for legislative aid during the session of 1819-20, in sending 
his son to Hartford, and a bill was introduced to that effect 
by the appropriate committee, but it was never enacted. 
A pupil from Ohio was a member of the Philadelphia 
school in 1821. 

It was in the spring of this year, 1821, that an 
association of gentlemen was formed in Cincinnati " for 
establishing a school for the instruction of the Deaf and 
Dumb in this part of the Western country." Rev. James 
Chute was selected as Principal of the Institution, and sent 
to the American Asylum at Hartford to acquire the art 
essential to qualify him for the successful discharge of his 
duties. Mr. Chute, upon his arrival in July, was cordially 
received, and was offered every facility available. He spent 
but four months, however, in these preliminary studies — 
a period much # too short for the acquisition of even tolera- 
ble skill. In December of the same vear, the association 



applied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, under 
the name of " The Western Asylum for the Education of 
the Deaf and Dumb.'' and for pecuniary aid. The applica- 
tion was unsuccessful, on the ground that an Institution of 
this character, designed to meet the wants of the deaf and 
dumb of the State, should be centrally located. 

The interest thus awakened was fostered by a letter, un- 
der date of January 3, 1822, received by the Governor of the 
State from the Directors of the Philadelphia Institution 
for the Deaf and Dumb, then recently organized. 

It states that ''returns of the deaf and dumb have been 
made from the different counties of the State (Pennsylvania), 
in accordance Avith a recent legal enactment, and what was 
apprehended by some is now reduced to a painful certainty — 
their number being found much greater than had been gen- 
erally supposed. This, we presume, will prove to be the case 
in our sister States, considering how much neglect such un- 
fortunate persons too often suffer, and the motive to con- 
cealment which their friends and parents find in their per- 
sonal feelings, when there is no prospect of giving them re- 
lief." The Directors describe at length the facilities which 
they have provided for the education of deaf mutes, and 
invite the attendance of pupils from Ohio upon the same 
terms as from their own State. They also invite the Leg- 
islature to make an annual appropriation, to be applied un- 
der the direction of the Governor, for the education of the 
deaf and dumb, "in some suitable and convenient Institu- 
tion.'* The invitation was not accepted. 

In the session of 1822-3, an act was passed requiring " the 
listers of the several townships in each county of the State, 
at the time of taking the enumeration of white persons, to 
ascertain the number of deaf and dumb, of all ages, and to 
return said lists to the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas 
of said county." This enumeration, carefully taken, re- 
sulted in the return of four hundred and twenty-eight deaf 
mutes, not including Athens and Hamilton Counties, the 
latter being also the most populous county in the State. 
Two hundred and eighty-eight were returned asunder twentv 



years of age. Of the whole number, 279 were returned as 
"poor," 66 as in "middling circumstances," 72 as in "good 
circumstances," and of 11 no report is given. It was plain 
that in the State at that time, possessing a population of 

about 600,000, at least 200 mute children of school age stood 
in need of education, and, furthermore, that without pecu- 
niary assistance, education, in the case of most, would be im- 
possible. 

The way was thus prepared for a successful effort to estab- 
lish an Institution at the legislative session of 1826-7. The 
Rev. James Hoge, D. D., of Columbus, a gentleman to whom, 
excepting those within the Institution itself, the deaf mutes 
of the State are more indebted than to any other individ- 
ual, was the immediate agent in attaining this much de- 
sired object. Through the influence of Dr. Hoge, the be- 
nighted condition of the deaf and dumb was- brought to the 
attention of Governor Morrow, and the result was a strong 
recommendation, in his message to the Legislature in the 
autumn of this year, to establish an Institution for their 
benefit. The subject was referred in the House to a select 
committee of three. An elaborate memorial, prepared by 
Dr. Hoge, and signed by a large number of prominent citi- 
zens, was presented to this committee, detailing, at length, 
the destitute condition of the deaf and dumb — the efforts 
that had been made in foreign countries, and recently in 
our own, for their relief — and the entire success that might 
be attained in their education. Some statements of the 
memorial, with regard to the state of deaf mutes previ- 
ous to instruction, and their ignorance of spiritual and moral 
truths, were, at the time, received even by intelligent per- 
sons with much credulity, although observation and expe- 
rience have abundantly proved their correctness. A bill for 
incorporating the Institution was reported by the commit- 
tee, which passed both Houses, without serious opposition. 
The bill appointed a Board of Trustees, with the usual cor- 
porate powers — allowed them to hold property for the object 
specified — the annual income of which should not exceed 
$30,000; and provided for the support of one pupil from 



each judicial circuit in the State, at an annual expense not 
exceeding S100 (to be paid out of the Literary Fund), and 
for a period not exceeding three years, the time generally 
fixed upon at the outset by the several States as the proper 
period for the education of the deaf and dumb. 

Before an actual organization was effected under this act 
of incorporation, there was a movement in a different part 
of the State that deserves mention. It was the opening of 
a school for deaf mutes in the town of Tallmadge, in Sum- 
mit County. The object seems to have been to supply an 
immediate want, rather than to establish a permanent In- 
stitution. 

In the family of Mr. Justus Bradley, of this town, were 
three daughters who were deaf mutes. The sympathy of 
the citizens being excited in their behalf, it was found that 
there were in the neighboring townships a number of other 
individuals laboring under the same misfortune ; and it was 
determined to commence a school for their instruction. For 
this purpose a Board of Trustees was organized, consisting of 
Rev. John Keys, Elizur Wright, Garry Treat, A. C. Wright, 
Philo Wright and Alpha Wright. The school was opened 
in May, 1827, under the instruction of Mr. Colonel Smith, 
a deaf mute, w T ho had been for six years a pupil in the Asy- 
lum at Hartford, and was continued two years. It con- 
tained in all eleven pupils, most of whom were afterward 
members of the school at Columbus. It was sustained by 
private charity, w r ith the exception of $100 given it by the 
Legislature, in 1828, toward paying the salary of the teacher. 
The same bill also granted $100 for the next year, provided 
the school at Columbus did not previously go into operation. 
This last sum does not appear to have been drawn from the 
treasury. 

The first Board of Trustees of the Institution at Colum- 
bus, under the act of incorporation, consisted of the follow- 
ing gentlemen : Rev. James Hoge, I). D., and Gustavus 
Swan, Esq., of Franklin County ; Thomas Ewing, Esq., of 
Fairfield County ; Rev. William Graham, of Ross County : 
Rev. Wm. Burton, of Pickaway County ; John H. James. 



Esq., of Champaign County; Thomas 1). Webb, ggq. 5 () f 
Trumbull County, and Samuel (Mark, Esq., of Clarke Coun- 
ty. The Governor of the State was ex-officio President of 
the Board, and \h\ Hoge was chosen Secretary. They met 
and organized on the 9th of July, and their first report to 
the Legislature was made in December, 1827. In this re- 
port they estimate that, should an institution be opened, 
there is a reasonable prospect, in the course of the year, of 
from fifty to seventy-five pupils. 

As the revenues of the State were, at this time, princi- 
pally engrossed in a great work of internal improvement — 
uniting the waters of Lake Erie with the Ohio River — the 
sources of income to meet the necessary expenses of the 
Institution were a matter of no small interest. Of these, 
three were proposed by the Trustees : 1st, a share in the 
Literary Fund ; 2d, an application to Congress for a town- 
ship of land ; 3d, opening a paper at the office of the Coun- 
ty Clerk of each County for private subscriptions. The 
trustees close their report by recommending that, from 
a due regard for the welfare of the Institution and to pub- 
lic sentiment, as far as they can ascertain, it be located at 
Columbus, alleging that "Here it will be under the eye, 
and subject to the inspection, of the Legislature at all 
times; and, also, that the facilities of intercourse and con- 
veyance which are collected at this point, render it more 
convenient to any point in this State than any other 
place " — reasons which have lost none of their force by the 
lapse of time. By an act of the Legislature, passed Janu- 
ary,. 1829, the Institution was located at Columbus. 

The gentleman selected as Principal of the Institution 
was Mr. Horatio N. Hubbell, who went to Hartford in 
March, 1828, to qualify himself for his new duties, and who 
remained there in the prosecution of his object about a 
year and a half. The school was opened October 16, 1829, 
in a small building, rented for the purpose, standing on the 
northwest corner of Broad and High streets. The building- 
has since been removed. A lady was employed to board the 
pupils at a fixed rate. The prospect at the opening was 



sufficiently discouraging. Only three pupils were present, 
and these were from the immediate vicinity. One of the 
three proved idiotic; another was a boy of weak intellect, 
and not long afterward became hopelessly insane. Yet 

these were all that could be gathered, notwithstanding a 
circular, stating the objects of the school, had been pub- 
lished for some months previously in the principal parts of 
the State. Before the close of the term, however, the num- 
ber of the pupils increased to ten, and in the course of the 
next year to twenty-two, and an assistant teacher was em- 
ployed at the commencement of the second year. After the 
schools were once in operation, the number of pupils began 
steadily to increase, and it was soon necessary to obtain 
other assistance in the department of instruction. 

The school subsequently removed to a building in the 
rear of the present Buckeye House, next to rooms in the 
old Court House, and next to No. 28 North Front street, 
where it remained until its removal to its permanent home 
upon grounds of its own, in 1834. 

At the outset of the history of the institution, it was 
hoped that its support might be provided for by the pro- 
ceeds of the sale of a township of land, which it was ex- 
peccted could be obtained from the general Government by 
Congressional grants, as had been done in the case of the 
Hartford and Kentucky Asylums. This was urged by the 
Trustees in their first annual report, and had also been 
mentioned by Governor Morrow in his message recommend- 
ing the founding of the institution. Governor McArthur, 
in his message to the Assembly of 1830-1, advised that a 
memorial be presented to Congress on this subject. This 
was done, and an act passed the Legislature directing the 
members of Congress from the State to use their influence 
in forwarding the measure. 

A hill granting a township passed one House of Congress 
without' opposition, and it was confidentially expected that 
it would meet with equal favor in the other branch. The 
bill, however, was not reached in the order of business 
before the body adjourned. 



The first appropriation of money made to the institution 
by the Legislature was during the session of 1827-8. This 
was the sum of $376.60, being, at the time, the unexpended 
balance of the Literary Fund, and was used in defraying 
the expenses of the Principal at the Hartford school. In 
1834, $2,239 were also granted from the same fund to com- 
plete the buildings. An act was passed during the session 
of 1831-2, appropriating to the use of the Institution one- 
fourth of the money accruing from the auction sales, taxes, 
etc., of Hamilton county. The amount at first annually 
realized from this source w^as something ^over $2,000. It 
became less in succeeding years, and was finally turned into 
some other channel. The deficiency was made up by direct 
appropriations, which eventually became the sole source of 
support. 

During the session of 1829-30, an act was passed author- 
izing the support of one indigent pupil from each of the 
nine judicial circuits of the State, the pupil to-be "selected 
by the Board of Trustees, from persons recommended by the 
associate judges of the counties where they reside." At 
the session of 1830-31, the support of an additional pupil 
from each circuit was authorized. At the session of 1832-3, 
this number Avas increased to three ; and during that of 
1833-4, the Trustees were authorized to admit thirty-six 
State pupils, and twelve additional ones annually, till the 
number should equal sixty. At each of these periods the 
provision made was intended and supposed to be sufficient 
to meet the probable number of applications. During the 
session of 1844 these limitations w r ere repealed, and the 
Trustees were instructed to admit all suitable applicants. 

It was provided, in the act of incorporation, that the 
annual expense of each pupil should not exceed $100 for 
the session of ten months. This was reduced, by the act 
of 1831, to $75, which was found to be about the actual ex- 
pense at that time. In 1837, it was again fixed at $100. 
By the Constitution of 1852, it was provided that " institu- 
tions for the benefit of the insane, blind, deaf and dumb, 
shall always be fostered and supported by the State, and be 



subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the 

General Assembly." And from that date on, the expenses 
of the Institution were met by aggregate appropriations. 
At present the ordinary cost per annuin is about $200 per 

pupil. 

The time at first contemplated as sufficient for the course 
of instruction was. as has already been stated, three years. 
At the session of 1833, this time was increased to four 
years, and in 1834 to five years. In 1844, an act was passed 
allowing the Trustees to retain pupils, at their discretion, 
for a period longer than five years, and not exceeding seven. 
This limit, in 1866, was extended to ten. 

One of the first objects of attention on the part of the 
Legislature, after incorporating the Institution, was to pro- 
vide a proper location, and to erect suitable buildings for 
its accommodation. Indeed, in the act of incorporation it- 
self, it was made the duty of the Board of Trustees at that 
time appointed to report to the General Assembly, among 
other particulars, with regard to the locality, plans, build- 
ings, &c, necessary for an Institution, and in January. 
1829, prior to the opening of the school, an appropriation 
was made to purchase a site. This was secured in the Feb- 
ruary following. A tract, consisting of three outlots, con- 
taining three and a third acres each, lying about half a 
mile east of the State House, was selected and purchased 
for three hundred dollars, the land being considered as 
about one-half a donation at the time. The selection was 
most admirably made. The grounds, embracing an area of 
ten acres, are ample in extent, the soil of the finest quality, 
the water abundant and excellent, and the situation easy 
of access and almost unparalleled as to its healtjifulness. 

The first building for the use of the school was com- 
menced in 1832, and was occupied at the opening of the 
fall term of 1834. The building was fifty feet by eighty. 
and three stories high, the general plan of the one 
in New York having been adopted. It was designed 
to provide school, lodging, dining, and sitting rooms for 
from sixty to eighty pupils, and was supposed to be large 



enough to meet the wants of t he Institution for a longtime 
to come. The increase of pupils soon showed it to be much 
too small. A wing, seventy by thirty, and four stories 
high, was added to the south end of the original building 
in 1845-6. It 1856, a building one hundred and thirty-five, 
and two stories high, designed ultimately for shop rooms, 
was added to the accommodations of the family, and from 
that time on until the opening of the new house, in 1868, 
the attendance continued at one hundred and fifty. 

In 1863, the necessity for enlargement had become so 
urgent that the General Assembly, without a dissenting 
vote, enacted a bill providing for the erection of the present 
structure. It was first occupied in the fall of 1868. It is 
the most extensive and commodious structure devoted to 
the education of deaf mutes to be found anywhere, and de- 
serves more particular description. 

It consists of seven buildings, suitably connected, and 
was erected at a cost of $650,000. It is built of brick, and 
is elaborately trimmed with stone. The roofing is of slate, 
the cornice of galvanized iron, and the balconies, pillars, 
railing and floor, of iron. The number of bricks required 
was 8,000,000 ; the roof cornice is 3,800 feet in length ; the 
gas pipe measures two miles ; the interior walls and ceil- 
ings have a surface of twelve acres, and the floors a surface 
of four acres. The windows number 800. The front build- 
ing, 270 feet in length, is surmounted by seven towers, the 
central one being 115 feet high, the two at its side 105 feet, 
and the four at the corners 97 feet. The center tower has 
been finished to the top, and from it, ascending by a spiral 
staircase, visitors have a magnificent view of the city. This 
front building is divided by a hall ten feet wide, running- 
its entire length, upon every story, each story above the 
basement being fifteen feet high. The use of this building- 
is for offices, library, museum, hospitals, parlors, sewing and 
store-rooms, and chambers occupied by teachers, officers and 
employes. Attached to the front building are three wrings, 
running north. The central wing, 145 by 40 feet, is occu- 
pied by the kitchen and adjacent store-rooms, the dining- 



room, and a chapel 23 feet in height. The two exterior 
wings extend north 115 feet, affording a hall the entire 
length, and adjacent rooms for baggage, clothing, washing, 
bathing and water-closets. Attached to these exterior 
wings, and extending at right angles to them 110 feet east 
and west, are two wings, 40 feet wide, called the boys' and 
girls" wings. The first story is used as a play-room. The 
second is the sitting or study-room, and is used out of school 
and work hours. The two upper stories are dormitories. 
These side wings return by corridors to the central wing, 
which continues by the bakery and store-rooms in the base- 
ment, and by corridors in every story, to the school build- 
ing in the rear. This building is 115 by 55 feet, is three 
stories high, and contains twenty-three school-rooms. Still 
further to the rear is a building 100 feet square, from the 
corner of which rises the ventilating shaft, 115 feet high. 
This building contains the boilers, engines and pumps used 
for heating the main building, and for supplying every part 
with water. The second story is occupied by the machinery 
and appliances of the laundry. 

The Institution can accommodate four hundred pupils, 
and has had that number for three years past. 

The yearly period of instruction is forty w^eeks. The 
vacation, of twelve Aveeks, pupils spend at their homes. 

Deaf mutes of ordinary health, morals and mental capac- 
ity, are admissible betw-een the years of six and tw^enty-one, 
and may remain such a portion of ten years as their pro- 
gress and and conduct may justify. The course of instruc- 
tion, with children of ordinary intellect, requires ten years 
of study. It is divided into three departments, called Pri- 
mary, Grammar and Academic, and covering four, three 
and three years, respectively. 

The Primary classes, at present fifteen in number, are 
engaged in the acquisition of the simpler forms of language, 
and use reading books especially prepared for the deaf and 
dumb. These classes also acquire a good knowdedge of pen- 
manship, the fundamental rules of arithmetic and a first 
book in geography. 



The Grammar classes, five in number, continue to study 

language, making use of the easy readers of the public 
schools. They continue the study of arithmetic and geog- 
raphy, and also take up histories of the Tinted States. 
Penmanship is succeeded in these classes by drawing. 

The Academic classes, two in in number, continue the 
daily study and practice of composition. They add to 
arithmetic the study of algebra, From physical geography 
they pass to natural history and science, using the current 
elementary text books in natural history, chemistry, phys- 
ics, geology, astronomy and botany. General history is 
taken up. and also some practical treatise upon civil gov- 
ernment and political economy. Drawing in these classes is 
carried to a point of decided excellence. When called for, 
a section, also, is taught Latin enough to secure admission 
to the National Deaf Mute College at Washington, D. C. 

From all departments and classes daily details are made 
of those pupils who are likely to profit by instruction in 
articulation and lip reading. About one-tenth of the 
whole number are thus taught, and with sufficient profit 
to fully justify the attention and cost. 

Pupils of the two higher departments are encouraged 
in the constant use of the library, which has been selected 
and is replenished, from time to time, with especial refer- 
ence to their wants. A weekly paper, the Mate's Chronicle, 
has been published at the Institution for eight years. 

The pupils of the Academic department, with some from 
below, have sustained for years a flourishing Literary So- 
ciety, called the "Clionian." By its regular meetings, held 
upon Saturday evenings, and by its occasional exhibitions, 
it affords voluntary occupation to the more active and am- 
bitious minds, and also contributes to the increase of gen- 
eral intelligence and dignified culture. 

The length of the school-clay is five hours, divided into 
two sessions, and combined by a system of rotation, with 
two and one-half hours of manual labor. 

School keeps every day in the week, that of Saturday 
closing at noon, and that of Sunday lasting forty-five min- 



utes, and being occupied with subjects apppropriate to the 
day. 

On Sabbath morning, also, the oldest third of the school 
attend a religious service, lasting one hour, conducted by 
the Superintendent ; and in the afternoon the second third 
attend a similar service, lasting thirty minutes, conducted 
by the Superintendent. An hour of each evening, and 
with the older pupils, an hour and a half, is spent in the 
preparation of the next day's lessons. 

As to the medium of communication in the school and 
the household, it is, first, oral speech, where possible ; sec- 
ond, written speech, where it is intelligible, and does not 
unduly weary ; and thirdly, where neither oral nor written 
speech are feasible, the mutes own pantomine,- remember- 
ing ever that it is but a scaffolding, employed by the safe 
builder, until the real structure — language — is completed, 
to be then laid aside. 

The mute will, indeed, always return to it with the affec- 
tion felt by every person for his own vernacular tongue ; 
but living, as he does, surrounded by speaking persons, he 
will, however reluctantly, conform to their chosen medium 
of ideas, looking forward with earnest hope to that great 
unfolding, when the many tongues of earth, discordant now, 
will blend in one universal language. 

The subject of workshops early engaged the attention 
of the friends of the Institution, and their erection was 
strongly recommended in the reports of that period. It 
was with great force argued that some part of the intervals 
of relaxation from study might be profitably employed in 
learning a useful trade, and thus skill be acquired, and 
habits of industry, formed, which would be of great advan- 
tage to them in after life. Accordingly, in 1838, a two- 
story building, twenty by sixty, was erected for this object. 
The only trade introduced was that of shoemaking. Such of 
the pupils as were of suitable age were emjoloyed fori]* hours 
a day, under the instruction of a man engaged for this pur- 
pose. The arrangement was followed for a number of years 
with all the success that could have been expected under 



the circumstances. The system a1 fchat time favored was 
evidently an unfortunate one. The only compensation 
which the person employed to teach the trade received was 
the labor of the boys, His apparent interesl would be to 
obtain the greatest possible amount of labor, without refer- 
ence to the improvement of the pupil. The obvious infer- 
ence should have been, not that the whole matter should be 
abandoned, but that it should be conducted on different 
principles. The contract ha vino- expired, it was not 
renewed. In 1863 shoemaking was resumed, the State pro- 
viding a foreman and materials. Under this efficient sys- 
tem the instruction of mutes in useful mechanical labor 
has since continued. 

In 1867 an enactment of the Legislature required the 
addition to the mechanical instruction of the Institution of 
the arts of printing and bookbinding. The quarters occu- 
pied by these trades were the building. 130 by 35. previously 
referred to. 

To foster the operation of this enlargement of the indus- 
trial department without detriment to the literary educa- 
tion of the pupils, a combination of the two was established, 
in accordance with the following method: 

The school is divided into three divisions, consisting at 
present of seven, seven and eight classes. The day is also 
divided into three sessions of two. two and three hours, the 
first extending from half-past seven to half-past nine ; the 
second from half-past ten to half-past twelve: and the third 
from. two to five, with half an hour's recess at half-past 
three; At half-past seven the regular duties of the day 
begin. Two divisions go to their respective class rooms, 
and the third is distributed, the boys to their trades and 
the girls to the bindery and the housework. All are dis- 
missed at half-past nine. At half-past ten, after the chapel 
service, two divisions go to their class-rooms, and one is dis- 
tributed as before, the boys to their shops and the girls to 
the bindery and the housework. All are dismissed at 
half-past twelve, the hour for dinner. At two o'clock, as 
before, two divisions go to school, and the third to the 
trades and housework. 



Thus, in working hours, from half-past seven in the morn- 
ing until five in the afternoon, two-thirds of the scholars 
are at school, and one-third is at work. Every pupil attends 
sehool two sessions daily and works one session. The 
average daily time spent at school is something less than 
five hours, and that spent in manual labor is about two hours 
and a half. To secure a fair distribution of time, and also 
a desirable variety, the assignment moves forward one 
session the first day of each month, so that those who work 
in the morning any month, work the next month in the 
forenoon, and in the afternoon the month after that. Those 
who work in the forenoon any month, work in the after- 
noon the next, and those who work in the afternoon any 
month, work in the morning the next. 

This rotation is so generally understood by the pupils 
that upon the first day of each month the change to occur 
has only to be announced, without explanation, and all go 
to their appropriate departments without confusion. 

The impediments to successful shops in asylums,as they be- 
come large, are these : During school hours, from nine to 
four o'clock, or from eight to one, as the case may be, the 
shops are, as the department is usually organized, necessa- 
rially empty, and the masters unemployed, unless they 
busy themselves in preparing work, as the saying is. 
Again, all necessarilly go to the shops together, before or 
after school, or at both times, and, supposing three trades to 
be taught, as is the case with us, the boys, when two hun- 
dred in number, the number we actually have, would aver- 
age over sixty to a shop. No master can give suitable 
attention to sixty apprentices at one time, however dilli- 
gently he may prepare for it, or be sure that they are all of 
them even at work. A shop, if possible, should have its 
operations prolonged through an ordinary working day, 
and, in a large institution at least, should secure its com- 
plement of pupils in successive sets through the day. The 
wisdom of this method has been confirmed by eight years 
of experience. 

The health of the Institution since its establishment has 



been a matter of congratulation. During forty-eight years 
there have been but twenty-eight deaths. The average 

duration of schooling has been four years and a half, and 
the whole number of pupils received has been 1,525. Two 

of the twenty-eight died by drowning, and one by railroad 
accident. By reason of cholera in the city in 1833, and 
again in 1849, the school was dismissed for a short time 
before the close of the session. In 1867, also the prevalence 
of typhoid fever occasioned the closing of school in March. 
During the past four years, with a daily attendance of four 
hundred, but two deaths have occurred. 

The affairs of the Institution have been under the imme- 
diate care of five gentlemen successively. Mr. H. N. Hub- 
bell, by his untiring energy, faithfulness and skill, bestowed 
for twenty-four years, brought it from small and feeble be- 
ginnings to a position of decided importance, and one hold- 
ing a warm place in the affections of the people of the State. 
Few persons, as they look at an Institution of this charac- 
ter in its mature and perfected organization, and in the full 
exercise of its beneficent career, are able to appreciate the 
difficulties that have been encountered in its early history. 
The creation of public sympathy in an untried and difficult 
enterprise, securing public confidence, maturing plans, 
erecting buildings, collecting, organizing and controlling an 
Institution of this kind, involves an amount of care and 
perplexity, and demands a fertility of resources that attend 
few other labors undertaken by man. No greater satisfac- 
tion can be conferred upon a benevolent mind than to have 
been made the agent of effecting such a work. 

Mr. J. Addison Cary, his successor, succumbed to an acute 
and painful disease, and died in less than a year. His emi- 
nent talents and genial qualities made his death to be deeply 
regretted. 

Rev. Collins Stone was in charge for eleven years, 1852-63. 
He brought to his work full acquaintance with the charac- 
teristics of deaf mutes, and superior skill in the art of their 
education. His knowledge of human nature was thorough, 
and his experience in affairs extensive. Cautious, yet bold, 



fertile in resources and prompt in execution, -waved at all 
times by a conscientious regard for the duties of his posi- 
tion and by sympathy for mutes in their misfortune, social 
in his temperament, of polished manners, and the soul of 
honor, he united in a remarkable degree thequalities desir- 
able in his office. 

Mr. George L. Weed, in charge three years. 1863-6, was 
occupied, in addition to the numerous cares incident to the 
control of a household of nearly two hundred persons, in the 
labors and influences preliminary to the enlargement un- 
dertaken in 1868. and made complete in 1868. 

His successor, and the present incumbent, was Mr. Gilbert 
0. Fay, who for ten years has had the task of developing 
and determining the routine life of a household at present 
numbering nearly five hundred persons, in quarter- entirely 
new. 

The Ohio Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the fifth 
in the country in the order of time, is yet. in another partic- 
ular, the fikst. It was the first established upon the im- 
portant and only true principle, that the entire expense of 
furnishing a complete education to the deaf and dumb 
should be defrayed by the State. Other States have liber- 
ally and nobly made appropriations to support their deaf 
mutes in private incorporations, granting a yearly stipend 
for this purpose — in some cases sufficient, in others not so. 
Ohio claims the honor of first providing adequate and 
gratuitous instruction for the deaf and dumb as a matter of 
plain and acknowledged duty. The nobleness of this act is 
not diminished by the consideration that, at the time of 
assuming this duty, the State had been in existence only 
twenty-five years . that three-quarters of its surface was cov- 
ered with the primitive forest : that the great thoroughfares 
of commerce were not constructed, nor its system of com- 
mon schools in operation : and that, while the taxes of the 
State were burdensome, its revenues were comparatively 
small. From a work commenced under such circumstances, 
the State, in her subsequent progress to wealth and great- 
ness, has shown no disposition to retreat. 



The material for this sketch, so far as il applies to the 
first twenty-seven years of the history of the Institution, 
as well as the language in which it is described, have been 
largely derived from a sketch drawn up twenty-two years ago 
by Rev. Collins Stone, at that time Superintendent of the 
Institution. This revisal and the filling out of the sketch 
as it stands have been done bvthe present Superintendent. 



PRESENT OFFICERS OF THE INSTITUTION— 1876. 

TRUSTEES. 

Henry F. Booth. Ansel T. Walling, Philemon Hess. 
Superintend ent — Gilbert (). Fay. 

THE S C H L. 

INSTRUCTORS. 

Academic Department — ("diaries S. Perry. M. A.. Alfred H. 
Hubbell, M. A. 

Grammar Deportment — John I). H. Stewart. Louisa K. 
Thompson. M. Abbie Hyde. Sarah Noyes, Robert Patter- 
son. B. A. 

Primary Department — Plumb M. Park. Matthew G. Par- 
tington. Cassie H. Smith. Mary C. Bieree, Geo. W. Halse, 
Hannah Davis. Gertie Woofter, Ruth E. Hare, Adaline T. 
Evans. Kate Millikan, Sarah F. Perry. M. Annie Byers, Lucy 
E. Brown. James M. Park. B. A.. Augustus B. Greener. 

Teae-lier of Articulation — Ida W. Kessler. 

DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT. 
Van S. Seltzer. M. D., Physician: Frederic F. Wing. 
Steward: Charlotte A. Babbitt, Matron: Mary Syler, Assist- 
ant Matron: Helen A. Rose. Assistant Matron: Mary A. 
Kidder. Housekeeper. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRADES. 

Parley P. Pratt. Master of Shoe Shop; Charles B. Flood, 
Supervisor of Public Printing; Mitchell C. Lilley, Master 
of Book Bindery: Thomas Flood. Master of Printing Office. 



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